The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, July 20, 2001 Page: 1 of 24
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Vol. LXXXIX, Issue No. 1
SINCE 1916
Friday, July 20, 2001
Epic Houston flood leaves Rice largely unscathed
by Rachel Rustin
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Friday night, June 8. Anight that will live in Paul Sutera and
Josh Ginsberg's memories for a long time to come.
It's the night high water trapped them in the Student
Center.
Sutera, associate director of the Student Center, and
Ginsberg, a Wiess College senior, witnessed Tropical Storm
Allison from the second floor of the RMC.
Allison inundated the Houston area and the Rice campus,
causing street flooding, and in the campus' case, creating a
small lake surrounding the Student Center.
When Ginsberg, Sutera and several KTRU DJs who were
stuck in the student center were finally able to leave, the
stories from the rest of the campus were just beginning.
The Rice University Police Department had no phones, but
Housing and Dining and Facilities and Engineering staff mem-
bers were already beginning the long process of surveying the
damage and drying out the campus.
While Tropical Storm Allison didn't have the official status
other damaging storms have had, it certainly had plenty of
force, and il did the damage to prove it.
Damage to the Rice campus was minimal, and Risk Man-
ager Renee Block said the total property losses are estimated
at less than $7 million. While the estimate is preliminary, it
includes mechanical and electrical systems in basement areas,
scientific
equipment, damage to carpets, floors and furniture, and
restoration and clean-up costs.
In a letter to all undergraduates, President Malcolm Gillis
said that "Rice has been at the forefront in studies of flooding
See FLOOD, Page 11
ROB GADDI/THRESHER
Tropical Storm Allison pounded Rice and the Houston area with days of rain and flooding. The Rice campus was mostly spared of
the damage, but the wooded area behind the Ralph S. O'Connor House resembled a pond more than a forest.
Beckford wins NCAA dash
by Chris Larson
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
A relentless pursuit of perfection drives
Allison Beckford.
The freshman athlete had just done the
near-unthinkable at the NCAA Outdoor
Track and Field Championships May 30-
June 2 in Eugene, Ore. That Wednesday,
the first day of the -meet, she qualified for
the final of the 400-meter hurdles with the
fastest time in the field. Thursday, she
repeated the feat by being the fastest quali-
fier in the 400-meter dash, winning her
heat in a career-best 51.50 seconds. Friday,
she finished second in the final of the 400
hurdles, an event in which she entered the
meet seeded fifth.
Bursting onto the national scene with
such impressive performances against
fields full of Olympic-caliber competition
would go to many athletes' heads. It didn't
go to Beckford's, however — in fact, just
the opposite.
Regrets about a slow start and poor
timing on the final hurdle blinded the fresh-
man to her accomplishments. Those who
expected to encounter a jubilant Beckford
after the race were in for a surprise, as her
face was full of dejection and disappoint-
ment.
"I feel as if I did nothing," she said. "I
believe that was my race. First of all, I didn't
get off to a good start. Then I caught them
with about 100 meters to go, but on the last
hurdle, I didn't charge it. I believe if I had
charged it and went over with everyone, I
could have caught them, but it was too
late."
Luckily for Beckford, the final day of
competition, offered a chance for redemp-
tion in the final of the 400. She had only run
the event a few times during the season,
bift her win at the WAC Championships in
a blistering 52.06 proved she belonged
among the best.
In fact, it proved she not only belonged
among the best — she was the best. She
jumped out to a good start, fought her \yay
through a stiff wind, and powered down the
final straightaway to win Rice's first-ever
See BECKFORD, Page 17
Mattel move-in date delayed
by Rachel Rustin
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Jan. 15, 2002 used to be the day Martel
students thought they would be moving into
their new college.
Now, Jan. 15 is the date Rice will get a
certificate of occupancy, allowing the process
of moving in furniture and making the build-
ing inhabitable to begin.
Damage to the Martel College construc-
tion site, including equipment, caused by Tropi-
cal Storm Allison totals between $2 million
and $3 million.
Project Manager David Rodd said the move-
in date for Martel has been pushed back to
Jan. 28.
The change comes as a result of Tropical
Storm Allison's damage to the construction
site, which needs replacement electrical equip-
ment in order to restore the building's power
supply.
Rodd said the new parts should arrive by
September 18, and the construction should
resume normally.
However, Jan. 28 is more than a week after
Jan. 15, the date the semester starts and the
date Martellians were originally scheduled to
be in their new home.
Current target dates for opening Martel
put the coordinator moving into her office Jan.
22 and the servery serving its first meals Feb.
18. .
While the student suites should be com-
pleted Jan. 28, construction of many of the
common areas of the building will lag behind
so that more manpower can be directed to-
ward finishing the student suites.
Rodd said there is little chance of these
dates moving up, but that every chance to
speed up the construction process will be
taken.
Developing a plan for housing Martellians
for the first week of the spring semester has
fallen to Vice President for Student Affairs
Zenaido Camacho, Housing and Dining Di-
rector Mark Ditman, and Martel Master Arthur
Few.
Camacho said they intend to have a plan
ready by Orientation Week, and between now
and then he will talk to Martel student leader-
ship and meet with Ditman and Few.
Camacho said the plans will be designed to
cause as little disruption in students' lives as
possible.
See MARTEL, Page 6
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COURTESY EUGENIA WEISSFNBERGER
Tearing down the house
The old Hanszen College Commons is demolished to make room for a new Commons that will adjoin the new
Wiess College Commons and Servery complex shown. See our construction update, Page 10.
■
COURTESY SEAN SCOTT
In June, the women's relay team raced at the NCAA Championships.
A&E Page 13
Getting it "Made"
SPORTS Page 16
Seven Owls drafted
Quote of the Week
"There will be no more Jay and
Silent Bob; it will from now on be
brand new characters like Roy and
Silent Bill."
— Kevin Smith, discussing the end
of his "New Jersey Chronicles"
movies. See story, Page 13.
As the summer winds
to an end...
This issue of the Thresher will
be mailed to the homes of all
current, graduated and incoming
students. We will resume our
weekly issues with a special Ori-
entation Week issue August 24.
If you have graduated, use all
that gift money to buy a subscrip-
tion so you can keep in touch
with the Backpage.
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 1, Ed. 1 Friday, July 20, 2001, newspaper, July 20, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443081/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.